The Puppeteer's Past
by Tenka-Parker
Summary: Karli is back at an older version of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, she doesn't know why she's there until someone who calls himself "Jack" tells her she has the night off. If only she knew what he'd gone through, and how familiar he is.
1. A Visitor

I was born a stranger, just like everyone else. However, some people are born a second time if they can't find peace… And that's where I am now. She doesn't know who I am. I don't want her to remember if she becomes that thing again.

"Wh-Where am I?" she asked, she was frightened. I couldn't blame her, she must've forgotten. I was sure of that now. "I was helping my friend… Mike through his last night… Why am I here?" she asked.

"Don't worry you're safe now!" I tried to reassure her.

"Who are you?" I was afraid she'd ask that.

"My name is, uh, Jack!" I maybe a marionette but I work just like a jack-in-the-box too.

"I'm Karli." She replied, she was still acting mature and formal.

"Well Karli… Tonight's your night off!" I exclaimed, she was going to be free tonight. The others weren't here anyway and the animatronics aren't hostile with anyone for now.

"I need to help my friends… They're still trapped. And Mike—" she started.

"I know about your friends, and want to help you—And I will! But, we're not doing any of that tonight." I replied.

"I have to…"

"Don't worry about it! Tonight is going to be you're night off, so you should enjoy it. It'll be right back to business soon enough!" It seemed like it'd be too soon anyway… "Come on! It'll be fun! I promise nothing bad is going to happen." I knew I could keep that promise for once.

"O-Okay." She shifted a bit closer, good she was getting relaxed. "But my friends…"

"You're friends aren't here tonight, sorry miss. But tonight, they're not in the suits and neither are you! Come on everyone's waiting for you!" I reached my hand out to her and she took it. Maybe she trusted me, just a little. I was surprised, I wouldn't have…

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"To see the band of course, but let's not past a good friend of ours, he's right there!" I wanted to smile, but I already was. It was plastered on my face permanently.

"The balloon boy…?" he was never given a name, and he could say very few things, but he would always greet everyone. Even if they didn't say anything.

"Hello!" he greeted her happily. "Would you like a balloon?" he had recently added new words to his voice box so he didn't always have to just say "hi" or "hello".

"Hi." She greeted nervously and got on her knees to be level with him. "I would…" she answered.

"What color?" he started going through the balloons. His eyes were always bright and seemed happy, but I thought he felt more isolated then he went on about. Being in a box, or stuck in a corner, it's still the same.

"What color do you want?" Karli turned and asked me, I honestly didn't expect that.

"Pink…" I muttered, then repeated myself again to be clear. "Pink." The balloon boy turned and grabbed a pink balloon and handed it to her. I would've helped tie the balloon on her wrist, but I didn't have fingers or thumbs like anyone else. She finished tying it. I wonder if she knew that I was talking about her eyes.

"Thanks." Karli smiled at the balloon boy and got to her feet. _If only she knew about how the two of us felt._

"You're welcome! Enjoy the show!" he gave a farewell and stayed in his corner. He'd be the only one with good intentions.

"He seems nice." Karli said quietly so he wouldn't hear her.

"Yes he's very nice." My mouth didn't move but I knew words were coming out somehow. Must've been the same thing she did when she was… _Forget it._ "Just to let you know, the band has changed." I needed to remind her, the ones she knew were in Parts & Service.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You'll see." I placed my hand on her shoulder and kept walking. "We'll go back and see Foxy later."

"We're going to miss Foxy?"

"Just for now…" I answered, she seemed a little upset but she didn't act like she was going to fight me on it. "Do you want to see Foxy now or later?" I asked, I wanted her to be happy today.

"I want to see Foxy now. He might be having a hard time." She was talking about what was yet to come. I just wish she wouldn't have to know what became of him. Other than that they he had been replaced by a female fox.

"He might be." We turned around and went to Kid's Cove. Even only Karli knew why I would keep her away from Foxy for the night... The condition Foxy was in was almost heart-breaking. I didn't want her to be sad tonight. I think it would be though...

"What... Why?" she looked over at the mess of parts that was the replacement for Foxy. "Get the balloon boy... He can helps us put her back together." so I did. I wandered back over to his corner and asked him to come help us. But I don't think Foxy wanted our help, she had been rejecting it because of her pride.

"Get out of here." the replacement Foxy said.

"I... I won't." she refused. "We're putting you back together." Foxy snapped at Karli.

"I didn't ask for your help!" she growled.

"Come on..." I suggested, but she refused. Karli grabbed a part and started putting her back together but Foxy still snapped at her.

"I said stay back you stupid brat!" Foxy almost bit her that time, I wouldn't have that happen again.

"Come on let's go." I tried again but she still shook her head, stubborn as always.

"I'm putting you back together." Karli persisted and continued again. She was always putting them back together. BB tried to get some pieces and help too but Foxy still didn't want anyone near her. "You're going to let him help, right now."

"You can't tell me what to do." Foxy replied, her accent and dialect had gone. Her voice was mainly static but it was still understandable, for us. Karli kept working and didn't care for the threats, but Foxy wasn't going to bite her this time. She had given up, BB joined in too. I couldn't do anything with these type of fingers, only three and long. They weren't any good for something like this.

"Almost done." Karli said as Foxy now had both heads connected into one.

"Shut up." Foxy was still bitter to children, she didn't like them for what they did here. She would be torn apart tomorrow anyway.

"There." Karli smiled, she always tried to be sweet. I hated it when she tried to act like everything was okay like she was now.

"Good. No go on and find your own business." Foxy shooed her off along with BB and I.

"Let's go see the others." I recommended once more. This time she nodded and we headed toward the Show Stage, BB started heading back toward his corner.

"Hey, where are you going?" she asked. BB had no word to explain why he was returning to his corner; He couldn't tell anyone how he felt. "Why don't you join us?" she suggested, BB ran back.

"Hi!" he greeted again.

"Hello!" she greeted back, I'm still surprised at how well she was communicating with everyone.

"Now we're off?" I asked.

"Now we're off." So we made our way to the Show Stage once more. S_he was going to be very surprised._


	2. Galaga

/Second chapter.\\

As we approached the stage her facial expression changed.

"Those aren't—"

"They're different." I stopped her.

"That's not them." _Come on, I just want her to have a nice night…_

"Give them a chance." I asked, if she just knew… _If she knew, how sad she'd be._

"What. Did. With. The show!" BB asked in the only way he could. "What's wrong with the show?" he wished he could say, but it's not in his programming.

"Wh-What?" she replied and gave him her best eye contact again by getting level with him.

"Happy Birthday!" BB announced as the band turned on to play her a tune. The blues shades of Bonnie's cold plastic casing rumbled with the tunes playing on the electric red guitar. A large amount of confetti was let loose, popping out of the ceiling. Her expression looked especially frightened and alarmed but the band kept playing. There was fresh, sort of, pizza on the table in Party Room 4, where she would be directed soon enough. She took a step back and began to turn, she was going to run away. She couldn't leave now!

I grabbed her.

She whimpered instead of screamed.

I grabbed her shoulder, I grabbed the shoulder where she was bit. She wasn't scared now, _she was in pain._ It might not have been there anymore, but I bet it still hurt. As if time slowed down and came to a halt and she fell to the ground. I just didn't want her to run.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" I apologized a thousand times over but it definitely didn't feel like it'd be enough to earn forgiveness.

"It's… I'm okay." She replied, and gave a heavy sigh. I knew about her injuries. I got to see all of them at one point. Well, mainly the burn that was on her hand when she was a kid, and that time she was bit as Abby. I think those were the major ones. She was still wearing the white scarf though. It was nice to see that she kept that. But saying I'm sorry isn't enough, I'm an idiot. She's told me that enough times.

"H-Hey is everything al-alright-right-alright here?" The new Chica had left the stage, she was lucky that the band had that function.

"Yeah. Everything's fine." Karli rubbed her shoulder awkwardly, wincing a little at the touch. Damnit…

"No, it's not." I replied, I looked over at Chica again, she didn't have her eyes or her beak. "It's time to go." I placed my hand on her back, she grabbed onto something in her pocket. _She had a weapon on her?!_

"Stay back…" she warned me, as she took a step forward, I didn't want to do this.

"This isn't a game." I reminded her.

"Yes it is!" Chica twitched, her voice was so clear, compared to when she was on stage. What was it now? There wasn't supposed to be any disturbance tonight. The place was on lock down, there was supposed to be no one here. There was only an inspection and a single party. Come on! What is it?!

"Why don't we fool around for a bit then?" Karli replied, stop trying to pretend to be a threat!

"Maybe another time!" I snatched her up, surprised my arms could hold her like this, they were thin and fragile, not meant to hold that much. I ran with her, which was easier to do with longer legs, but where could we go? The Office? Prize Corner? This wasn't supposed to happen! Why does everything _go wrong_ with this place?! She stayed silent as I carried her away, we were heading toward the Office out of habit, but I stopped. The man was there… What could he want? They were going to after him, or were they going after her? I changed my direction, I turned into Party Room 4. There was an animatronic there… It was a cat looking one but it vanished as soon as I saw it. The hell was that?

"Hello." BB greeted us again, if he laughed he would lure them here. Please don't laugh, there isn't a vent or anything. He started laughing, I heard footsteps going into the hall and the glitching sounds of the old animatronics. _They were coming anyway._

"We're going to play a game." I started.

"No games now." She replied and ran out of the room, she had no idea what she was doing. I should just go back to my box until I hear anything, I wasn't going to be able to catch up to her. I never was able to. Ironically, she was already at the box. She must've thought this was a good hiding spot. I thought the same thing, it's where I hid most the day too. So that's where we hid.

* * *

><p>The night was very quiet after the single shriek. <em>They got him<em>. She wanted to leave the box multiple times, but I had to keep her there. She would be safe as soon as they were done. I was just confused as to why they would turn so hostile like that… Especially BB. He didn't agree with their behavior in the first place so why did he always lure them there? Why did he _always_ get involved?

He never did anything. I thought he was kind at night, I thought he wasn't hostile.

"Hello!" he greeted us. He didn't see us because we were in the box but he knew we were there.

"Don't pretend to be our friend now." I was mad, I brought her here for her birthday. Just to have a nice night.

"What. Do. I. Do." He attempted, maybe he didn't know what his behavior was like, _maybe none of them did._

"You don't… know…?" I can't blame him for something he couldn't even remember.

"n.O." BB replied, he needed to have a more extensive vocabulary, he couldn't even have a full sentence, he couldn't have words with 'z' in them I bet.

"You helped kill the guard again." I said quietly, I knew Karli was listening and she would be pissed. This was just going to be a bad night, _Damnit._ She left the box and wanted to run, she didn't want to guard to be dead. I didn't want her to see the body. I picked her up again in that odd way I had to. No thumbs means a lot of problems.

"Put me down!" she shouted at me, "Let me go! Now!" she was angry and I couldn't blame her. If she remembered… She began to cry and started hitting me.

"Do you… Do you remember that night?" I think she wouldn't because everything's changed but she just might. "You were all by yourself that day…"

"You'll have to be more specific." She replied, she was giving a pouted look.

"You ran home as quickly as you could, with the bad news. You had just seen everyone die…"

"Shut up…" she remembered, just barely.

"Your parents hated you, and wanted your brother instead. You didn't go home again did you?"

"Shut up." She said with more force.

"You came back and that man had more kids and you made sure he got you that time, didn't you…?" she growled at that.

"I didn't want him to!" she clutched her hands in frustration, "I couldn't hurt him though…" she looked down sadly.

"Why?" I asked. She pushed me aside, slightly cracking my mask as I hit the ground. I got up just the same, she had her hands up to her face in shame.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't—" she started, but I didn't care at the moment.

"Why?" I repeated. She stopped and looked down.

"You didn't know the guy like I did." She answered, "He wasn't who I thought he was." _Crap I made her cry!_

"H-Hey, it's alright. We don't have to talk about this anymore." I placed my narrow fingers against her shoulder, not putting any pressure though. "What would you like to do instead?" she couldn't save the guard this time, he was already gone. I just wanted her to have a nice birthday, come on.

"I saw an arcade earlier…" she muttered, she wanted to change the subject as well. I didn't know she was a gaming type of person though.

"Great idea, let's go." at least the carved in smile on my face would've been genuine.

"Hey, I have something to ask you." She said as we walked past BB, she was still carrying the pink balloon from earlier.

"Yea?" I looked down at her, but not for long. I knew my appearance wasn't exactly one of the best in the dark.

"Are you… dead?" she asked, _I was afraid she'd ask that._

"Yes, I am." I didn't want her to remember my death.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Jack."

"Your real name." she repeated, I couldn't tell her.

"I can't tell you, but don't worry about it. I'll you at the end of the night if you really want to know." I hoped she wouldn't want to play games that long and try to get away from me before the end of the night. The band was back on stage, calm and relaxed as if nothing was wrong.

"I can wait that long." She was stubborn, should've known better than to give her a goal for something she wanted. She stopped by the Galaga system and looked at the payment, just a quarter. She picked a quarter out of her pocket… That's right I gave her a bit of change earlier… Well, later. However you want to see it. She was actually really good at the game for a first timer. Within about six minutes she got to stage nine with two lives. Only because she died once on stage seven, she finally caught a break on stage 10, she almost flipped out when she beat stage nine. She got 40 on every stage, until stage 11. She missed three on that one. She lost it at stage 15 and finally died at 16. Hadn't seen someone like that get so far on their first try. I've heard there were many stages to Galaga though… I don't know if it's even beatable. I haven't heard about it anyway.

"You did pretty well."

"I suppose." She looked down, slightly blushing. Modesty counts in my book. She went over to Pac-Man and tried as best as she could but she couldn't get very far and she ended up using almost all of her quarters on that game. That game was older than Galaga, I think. I don't know exactly. "Have you ever played?"

_Should I answer that?_

"Yea, but I can't anymore with…" I moved my fingers stiffly, "these."

"Ahh… I'm sorry." She apologized yet again.

"Don't be." I reminded her, "Come on Karli Q, let's try some other games." She looked up at me for a second with her mouth open as if to say something, but quickly shut it.

"Okay." She replied. I need to be careful using her nickname. God I'm an idiot.

/And brief. It's been forever since I've wrote something for this.\\


End file.
